Texas first lady Anita Perry told an interviewer on Saturday that she thinks abortion is “a woman’s right.”
Perry’s husband, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), has helped push through a slewof laws restricting and eroding access to abortion in the state. He is on record deriding the idea that the right to privacy extends to abortion, has signed a pledge urging opposition to abortion “without exception and without compromise,” and explicitly stated that his goal is to make abortion in Texas “a thing of the past.”
Apparently, his wife does not agree. When asked at an interview at the Texas Tribune Festival if she thinks the governor’s administration “got it right” on abortion policy, Anita Perry immediately responded, “Well, that’s really difficult for me.” And while she clearly expressed personal opposition to abortion, she twice referred to that choice as “a woman’s right.”
INTERVIEWER: Your view is: governor’s got it right, the administration has it right.
ANITA PERRY: Well, that’s really difficult for me Evan because I see it as a woman’s right. If they want to do that, that is their decision. They have to live with that decision.
INTERVIEWER: Mrs. Perry I want to be sure that you didn’t just inadvertently make news. Are you saying that you believe that abortion is a woman’s right — to make that choice?
PERRY: It is not mine. It is not something that I would say for them.
INTERVIEWER: Do you believe that the state is attempting to say for them? And that if the governor and the administration had its way it would say for women that it is not their right?
PERRY: I think it goes back to the states and Texas has decided that no that is not what we want in the state.
INTERVIEWER: But your personal point of view is that it’s a person’s decision within the law to make that choice?
PERRY: Well I don’t really think that’s making news. I mean, I think that yeah, that could be a woman’s right. Just like it’s a man’s right if he wants to have some kind of procedure.
Branden Lee is a blogger, screenwriter, producer, and actor, currently residing in Boston, MA. Follow Branden on Twitter and Tumblr.
I’ve never been much of a political person, but there are two main issues that I really care about. Gay marriage and abortion. As a gay man, I look forward to being able to fall in love and solidify my romance by one day throwing a huge lavish extravagant wedding worthy of My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.
With DOMA finally being ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, gay marriages are finally equal to heterosexual marriages in the eyes of the law. Before DOMA was declared unconstitutional I didn’t really think there was a point in getting married if I was going to be denied the benefits of marriage. I’m so thankful to be living in a time when these strides for gay people are occurring, and since I’m only 22, so many more are bound to come before I finally do find the man I’d want to spend the rest of my life with. Plus with gays getting all the benefits of marriage now, the playing field is opened for all the gay gold-diggers out there.
Abortion has always been something I’ve been passionate about. Perhaps it’s the feminist in me. Women have always been a huge part of my life. My mother and grandmother were my biggest influences growing up. Most of my closest friends are women. Female musicians, actresses, comedians are my favorites. I always hate when a man declares that “women aren’t funny”. Personally I don’t find any straight white male comedians to be hilarious. Though we do gravitate most towards comedy that we relate to, and I find it easier to relate to women then straight men. Female villains that usually destroy and thwart the male characters are always my favorites in TV and movies. My favorite characters on Game of Thrones are Cersei, Melisandre, and Margaery to put things into perspective.
Since I love seeing women destroy men so much, I hate when male lawmakers constantly attempt to belittle and thwart women’s rights. Which is why I care so much about abortion. No one should be forced to endure a pregnancy to give birth to a child that they don’t want. If someone doesn’t want to have a baby, that’s their decision and their right to do whatever they want with their fertilized egg. Their body, their choice. Women earned their fundamental right to have control of their bodies long ago, so why is abortion still constantly on the battleground for lawmakers?
I do find it shocking though that there are gay men that don’t support a women’s right to choose. While browsing OkCupid I like to browse the questions answered by guys I’ve rated highly based on their attractiveness. I want to see if I’ll still find them attractive based on their personalities and stances on certain issues. Granted their viewpoints may have changed, depending on how long ago they even answered the questions. Also it is only OkCupid so I shouldn’t take it that seriously, but it’s still fun to check out. I often see guys would rather date/procreate with someone of the same race. As a non-white gay who almost exclusively only dates interracially, it’s disappointing to read this, but I’ve come to terms with the prevalence of sexual racism in the gay community. I find it more shocking to see profiles where guys say they don’t believe women should ever be able to terminate their pregnancies. I find it so unfathomable that a gay man would be anti-abortion. Though I’m sure many of these conservative anti-gay/anti-abortion lawmakers are secretly gay, it’s still revolting to see openly gay men believing that women shouldn’t have their own right to choose.
Due to my lack of uterus I’ll never have to worry about a future boyfriend and I having to make a decision about terminating our unwanted gestation, but I don’t think I could ever date a guy that is against abortion. One of my very best friend’s has had an abortion in the past. Ironically she’s my only religious friend and used to say she was anti-choice. Some people really don’t know their own viewpoints until the issue actually personally affects them.
Though it shouldn’t surprise me that there are gay men that don’t value the rights of women, since misogyny runs as rampantly in the gay community as racism. As a makeup-loving, Forever 21 shopping, diva worshipping, flamboyant gay man, I’m constantly bombarded with effemephobia/misogyny. Effemephobia is the hatred/prejudice against feminine gay men for those unaware. There are countless guys that outwardly express their distaste and dislike of feminine gay men all over their online dating profiles, just as there are countless men that expresses their racism. It’s racist to say that you’re not attracted to certain races, like it’s misogynist to say you’re not attracted to feminine men.
Everyone has their own preference, but preferences that discriminate against people based on their ethnicity and skin color developed from racism. Discriminating against femininity develops from believing that women are the lesser sex, weak, and anything feminine is not to be desired. Granted as gay men we aren’t attracted to women, but if a guy doesn’t have a vagina or identify as a woman, then he’s not a woman. The worst thing to see is gay men that say “I like men, so act like one.” or “If I wanted a girl, I’d date one.”. Seeing that I have no vagina and don’t identify as a girl, despite always being mistaken as one when I talk on the phone with strangers, I’m not a woman. I did once have two guys cancel dates with me in one day because they hated my girly voice. These ignorant hateful gender normative statements are invalid.
Another aspect of the girly gay guy struggle is guys finding it so repulsive that some boys enjoy wearing makeup. I find it comical how often guys get so turned off when I send them a picture of me wearing makeup. I only wear makeup when I go clubbing, which is usually less than once a week occurrence. Wearing makeup for 3-4 hours less than once a week rendering me undateable is ridiculous. Though if a guy believes in such archaic rules of gender expression, they aren’t someone I’d want to be with anyway.
In my experience “straight” but curious boys, bisexual guys, and tranny chasers tend to be the most appreciative of feminine gay men. Though it’s only natural that men that are also attracted to women, would be attracted to feminine features in men. How ironic that the most passably “straight” men in the gay spectrum, desire the most marginalized and least passably “straight” that are often ostracized by the rest of the gay community.
Though I am a man, ladies I do know the struggle. I very much know how it feels to be treated as a second class citizen because I’m a fem in a very pro-butch patriarchal society. I know how it feels to go out in a skimpy outfit and feel that my safety is threatened by random men on the subway or street molesting me with their eyes. I know the struggle of walking home alone in the middle of the night and having some creepy strange man try to follow me with his car and beep his horn at me and expected me to jump inside because he assumed I was a woman, luckily when he realized I wasn’t he quickly sped off. I’ve experienced what it feels like to have a man feel entitled to your body simply because he bought you dinner. I know what it feels like to worry that I’ll never be successful in my desired career all because I’m not a cisgender male.
We as gay men need women to survive. Whether it’s our friends, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, teachers, co-workers, etc… Although it’s shameful and perplexing that there are gay men out there that don’t support women’s reproductive rights, there are luckily many gay men that do. Without women there would be no gay marriage. Roe vs. Wade wasn’t the be all end all decision on abortion, and DOMA will most likely not be the be all end all of gay marriage rights.
As lawmakers constantly try to thwart progress it’s important to be actively aware and united, as women and gay men, to help protect each other’s rights. If they come for one, they’ll come for the other next, or even simultaneously.
HEADLINE: BREAKING NEWS: THIS JUST IN: Use whichever ‘Stopper’ you prefer but the News is Official – The Republicans have Run Amok! All across this great nation, Republicans are doing the dastardly deeds of taking into Their hands, a Woman’s Right to Choose, Voter’s Rights at the Polls, gerrymandering, gay rights and more.
From Texas to Ohio to North Carolina to California, the Republicans are in a dog fight and the American Citizens are being held hostage. Texas State Senator Wendy Davis, whose 12-hour Filibuster speech on the abortion issue made even Rand Paul proud. She is locked in against one of the greatest orators of Texas, Gov. Rick Perry (Sorry, I had to do that ). Gov. Perry is undoubtedly attempting to strike down any opposition when it comes to abortions in his state. But he’s relentless in capital punishment. Last week, Texas performed execution #251, the most under any sitting Governor.
Republican Gov., John Kasich, signed stringent abortion restrictions into law on Sunday night citing it was part of his “budgetary” planning. His bill requires women to take an unnecessary ultra-sound before having an abortion, requires physicians to read a Speech written by politicians to women seeking abortions, restricts workers at rape crisis centers from sharing with rape victims their legal rights.
In North Carolina, the General Assembly was lined with protesters as the State Senate voted on and passed sweeping legislation on an abortion bill, requiring physicians to be present during the procedure. The Republican Majority, under the hush of night, slipped this provision in under a bill that would prohibit the use of foreign law – Sharia Law – in the courts of North Carolina. Even the newly elected Governor, Pat McCrory (R), seemed taken aback by Tuesday nights events leading to Wednesday mornings outcome.
“When the Democrats were in power, this is how they did business. It was not right then and it is not right now. Regardless of what party is in charge or what important issue is being discussed, the process must be appropriate and thorough”, Gov. McCrory said. Interesting, coming from a man who reduced Unemployment Benefits length from 26-weeks to 13 and the Benefits amount from a maximum $535-week to $325 a week, without, mind you, support from the Democratic minority. Oh, and by the way, HE is why the #MoralMondays Movement has begun in North Carolina. His unpopular and targeted legislation has struck a cord, even in some Republicans that voted him in. If the House approves this measure, the bill becomes law without the Governor’s signature.
In California, gay marriage is placed on hold temporarily. A conservatives based lawyers group called, Alliance Defending Freedom out of Arizona, claimed in a petition that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals acted too early in letting same-sex marriages resume. Opponents are feverishly attempting to dissuade momentum of this historic ruling by the Supreme Court last week. Kansas Republican, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, has introduced a federal constitutional amendment banning All same sex marriages nation-wide. He has compared this fight to the Roe v. Wade fight legalizing abortions.
And to finish off the Republican agenda, they are beginning to gerrymander or redistrict voting locations for their benefit. A few states, Texas and North Carolina to name a couple, have begun changing the maps in key voting districts and also have added stricter voting laws requiring All registered voters show a pictured I.D.
Yep, the Republican base is showing its hand. They are standing united in every corner of the country. From Congress, to Senate, to House, to local government, they stand united with the same message – “People be damned, it’s Our Agenda, No Compromise, No Backing Down”. But remember America, they didn’t walk into office…some of you voted them in.
At least two fire bombs were thrown at the Fort Worth office of state Sen. Wendy Davis (D) on Tuesday night, according to the Star Telegram.
Davis was not in her office at the time, but some staff members were present. They used a fire extinguisher to put out the small blaze.
No one was injured in the attack, but the lawmaker’s office was damaged by the fire.
“It’s unfortunate when things like this happen in the public arena,” she said. “It reminds us of how important it is for us to remain very civil in our discourse and to work not to foment this kind of anger in our community as we discuss things that are challenges that we all face and care about.”
Anthony Spangler, Davis’ communications director, said he had no idea what motivated the attack.
Wearing pink tennis shoes to prepare for nearly 13 consecutive hours of standing, a Democratic Texas state senator on Tuesday began a one-woman filibuster to block a GOP-led effort that would impose stringent new abortion restrictions across the nation’s second-most populous state.
Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth began the filibuster at 11:18 a.m. CDT Tuesday. To derail a vote in the GOP-dominated Senate, she must keep speaking on the bill until midnight — the deadline for the end of the 30-day special session.
Before Davis began speaking, her chair was removed. CBSDFW.com reports that Davis must speak continuously — and stay on topic — the entire time. She is not allowed to lean against something for support. And she will not be able to stop or take a break, not even for meals or the restroom, during the entire 13-hour ordeal.
Davis offered some insight to her plans Monday night on Twitter.
I bet you didn’t know that masturbation began before birth. It’s okay, like you, I didn’t know this either. But thanks to the wonderful information provided by our friendly Republicans – you know, the same folks who taught us about legitimate rape and the ability of the woman’s body to “shut that whole thing down” if pregnancy occurs from illegitimate rape – we now know that fetuses, as early as 15 weeks old, pleasure themselves by masturbating.
This piece of info is brought to us compliments of Texas Republican Congressman Michael Burgess, who used the masturbation theory as a reason to push a bill outlawing abortions before 20 weeks. According to Mr. Burgess, if a 15 weeks fetus could feel pleasure from… pleasuring himself, then he could also feel the pain of an abortion.
The congressman explains;
“There is no question in my mind that a baby at 20-weeks after conception can feel pain. The fact of the matter is, I argue with the chairman because I thought the date was far too late. We should be setting this at 15-weeks, 16-weeks,” said the former OB/GYN during the House Rules Committee debate on the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.”
“Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful,” he continued. “They stroke their face. If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to believe that they could feel pain?”
He has no doubt in his mind that this is so, so women must now give up their right to choose what’s best for their own health. Go Republicans!
Oklahoma state Rep. Doug Cox (R), published a piece today in The Oklahoman. The article discussed the Republican’s unforgiving stance on abortions and not providing contraceptives to women. And in the piece, Mr. Cox asked what happened to the party he joined and wondered if his fellow Republican colleagues lives in “the real world.”
As a practicing physician (who never has or will perform an abortion), I deal with the real world. In the real world, 15- and 16-year-olds get pregnant (sadly, 12-, 13- and 14-year-olds do also). In the real world, 62 percent of women ages 20 to 24 who give birth are unmarried. And in the world I work and live in, an unplanned pregnancy can throw up a real roadblock on a woman’s path to escaping the shackles of poverty.
Yet I cannot convince my Republican colleagues that one of the best ways to eliminate abortions is to ensure access to contraception. A recent attempt by my fellow lawmakers to prevent Medicaid dollars from covering the “morning after” pill is a case in point. Denying access to this important contraceptive is a sure way to increase legal and back-alley abortions. Moreover, such a law would discriminate against low-income women who depend on Medicaid for their health care.
But wait, some lawmakers want to go even further and limit everyone’s access to birth control by allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for contraception.
What happened to the Republican Party that I joined? The party where conservative presidential candidate Barry Goldwater felt women should have the right to control their own destiny? The party where President Ronald Reagan said a poor person showing up in the emergency room deserved needed treatment regardless of ability to pay? What happened to the Republican Party that felt government should not overregulate people until (as we say in Oklahoma) “you have walked a mile in their moccasins”?
Johnnie Mae Smith, 61, mother of Marie Smith who sued Dr. Kermit Gosnell after a botched abortion, looks at a newspaper with Gosnell’s photo on it during an interview with the Associated Press in Philadelphia Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011. Abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, who catered to minorities, immigrants and poor women at the Women’s Medical Society, was charged Wednesday Jan. 19, 2011, with eight counts of murder in the deaths of a patient and seven babies who were born alive and then killed with scissors, prosecutors said Wednesday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
PHILADELPHIA — A lack of follow-up on reports of venereal disease, political sensitivities and unfulfilled promises made to health inspectors all added up to missed chances to stop a doctor from performing illegal abortions that killed at least two patients and hundreds of newborns, prosecutors said.
The indictment of Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 69 — a family practice physician not certified to perform abortions — details allegations of a litany of failures in upholding even the most basic public health guidelines. Gosnell was arraigned Thursday on charges of murdering eight babies and one patient.
Authorities allege that Gosnell and a fleet of undertrained — sometimes untrained — workers ran a ghoulish operation in Philadelphia in which labor was induced in very late-term pregnancies with unsanitary equipment, the viable babies born alive and killed with scissors to the spine, and their body parts left in jars — or clogging plumbing into which unattended women had given birth.
It’s now legal. Abortions are illegal in North Dakota.
Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed legislation Tuesday that that would make North Dakota the nation’s most restrictive state on abortion rights, banning the procedure if a fetal heartbeat can be detected — something that can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.
The Republican governor also signed into law another measure that would makes North Dakota the first to ban abortions based on genetic defects such as Down syndrome.
The measures are fueled in part by an attempt to close the state’s sole abortion clinic in Fargo. Supporters of the so-called fetal heartbeat measure said it is a direct challenge the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion up until a fetus is considered viable, usually at 22 to 24 weeks.
Abortion-rights advocates have promised a legal fight that they say will be long, costly and unwinnable for the state
This bill is being pushed in New Mexico by… guess who… a Republican! She wants to throw rape victims in jail for aborting a pregnancy due to rape. That’s right, if this bill goes through, the victim of a rape would then go to jail if she aborts the rapist’s seed!
We have seen multiple attemps by Republicans to exert FREEDOM on the bodies of women by telling them what they can and cannot do with their own body. This FREEDOM was on full display during the 2012 elections when contraceptives, rape and abortions played a major role in the voting booths. Americans spoke up loud and clear by voting for candidates with more progressive ideas on the rights of women over their own bodies, but like everything else, Republicans fail to accept the results of the election.
Huffington Post reports that House Bill 206, introduced by state Rep. Cathrynn Brown (R), would charge a rape victim who ended her pregnancy with a third-degree felony for “tampering with evidence.”
“Tampering with evidence shall include procuring or facilitating an abortion, or compelling or coercing another to obtain an abortion, of a fetus that is the result of criminal sexual penetration or incest with the intent to destroy evidence of the crime,” the bill says.
Third-degree felonies in New Mexico carry a sentence of up to three years in prison.
We are now back to their War on Women. Time to dust off the hashtag #WarOnWomen!
Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.), an anti-abortion activist, had an affair with a patient when he was a practicing physician and then pressured her to get an abortion, according to a report by The Huffington Post.
The report, which cites a phone call transcript from 2000, said DesJarlais was “trying to save his marriage at the time.” Said transcript and court documents showed that DesJarlais and the woman went back and forth about undergoing to the procedure.
Some of the quotes from the transcript, via the HuffPost:
“You told me you’d have an abortion, and now we’re getting too far along without one,” DesJarlais tells the woman at one point in the call while negotiating with her over whether he’ll reveal her identity to his wife. They then discuss whether he will accompany her to a procedure to end the sort of life the congressman now describes as “sacred.”
“You told me you would have time to go with me and everything,” the woman complains.
“I said, if I could, I would, didn’t I? And I will try,” DesJarlais says. “If I can [find] time, you’re saying you still will?”
“Yeah,” the woman answers.
The two bicker over when they can meet to hash out a solution, and they make clear the nature of their relationship when DesJarlais says delaying a resolution isn’t fair to his wife.
“This is not fair to me. I don’t want you in my life,” the woman says.
“Well, I didn’t want to be in your life either, but you lied to me about something that caused us to be in this situation, and that’s not my fault, that’s yours,” the doctor responds.
“Well, it’s [your] fault for sleeping with your patient,” the woman fires back.
DesJarlais’ wife had apparently filed for divorce two years prior. The HuffPost provided a copy of the transcript to the congressman — who “did not deny its contents.”
We use cookies to improve your experience on our site. By agreeing to this, we can analyze browsing behavior and unique IDs on this site. Declining or revoking consent may affect certain features.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
